New Year Resolutions 2013

While looking forward to the year of Snake, I'm very grateful to family and friends for the wonderful year of 2012! On New Year Eve, it's blissful to write up New Year's Resolutions before rushing to the countdown firework at Taipei 101.

I didn't know that Japanese reflect upon a check list of 15 items (seven flavors, five events, three encounters しちみ・ごえつ・さんえ) on New Year Eve until in December this year. Better late than never! I'm happy to follow the Japanese tradition to check the year of 2012 and to plan for year 2013!

The three encounters I could think of were Zhangjiajie (trip to China), Economics (a new subject of interest about global finance and economy), Sony Cyber-shot (a new digital camera DSC-WX1). Five events were 1. A Mandopop Concert in January; 2. The Silver Anniversary of Marriage in February; 3. Playback Theater debut in May; 4. Taipei Fringe Festival Debut in September; 5. Finalist of D67 Evaluation Contest in November. As for seven flavors, ups and downs in life, all I could think of is that I have a smooth year throughout the year.

In 2013, I'm determined to meet 3 interesting people (三會 さんえ), to initiate 5 meaningful events (五悅 ごえつ), to savor 7 flavors (七味 しちみ), seven tasty cafe's. As I grow one year older, my life journey is one year shorter. I shall be more conscious, proactive, ambitious about what I want to achieve in the year to come.

At 10:30PM, I decided to go to bed early with my husband, because of two parties on New Year Day. Even with a new camera in hand shooting panoramic images, I had cold feet to venture to Taipei 101 because of the extra cold weather and the traffic jam on New Year Eve.

Not being able to watch the Kouhaku music show (第63回 NHK紅白歌合戦) on NHK on New Year's Eve (no images on my satellite at home), it was hard for me to stay awake till 11 PM (Taiwanese time) Japan is one hour ahead of Taiwan. Even Toastmasters Trini Ding and Pamela Yang were waiting for me at JYT's Home near Taipei 101 at 12 midnight watching the fireworks of 2013, I was already somewhere dancing with many handsome young men in my sweet dream.

Year-end Karaoke Luncheon chez Linda’s

Toastmaster George Chang is an action taker. After our surprise encounter at Bitan on Christmas day, he called Veteran Toastmaster Linda Chu immediately and asked her to organize a karaoke gathering at her penthouse Friday afternoon, December 28th.

Linda is a cooking Toastmaster. She loves healthy food with vegetables, fruits, and beans. She has brand German cooking utensils in stock. I enjoy her natural recipes and her warm hospitality. It has been more than two years since I last visited Linda's penthouse with Toastmaster Joy Chyr in November 2010.

George was the first to arrive, I didn't know at what time,  followed by me at 1:15PM. Being a second-generation mainlander, I became the butt of their jokes when I spoke funny Taiwanese to their ears. Both Linda and George are the best two Taiwanese-speaking Toastmasters in District 67, how lucky I was to be caught between the two professors to correct my Taiwanese pronunciation. There is no doubt I have a huge room to improve my Taiwanese language and I'm determined to communicate more often with my husband in Taiwanese at home.

When Toastmaster Joy Chyr joined our gathering at 2:30PM, she was eager to share with me about her recent retirement in April and her idea of establishing a new business in life planning and personal development with some celebrity experts she adored in China. She showed me her i-pod full of CCTV videoclips of "Fall in Love 婚姻保衛戰" & "For You Only 非妳莫屬". I was very much inspired by Joy's energy and enthusiasm in pursuing new possibilities in life. And I wish her the best success in her new career.

Toastmaster Lydia Lin arrived after 3:30PM with a bag of cheese and ham sandwiches from a famous local shop and a box of spongy cake freshly baked from oven. George was happy to be surrounded by four senior lady Toastmasters and seized the opportunity to promote his humorous speeches in Taiwanese and showed us his talents in speaking Taiwanese of different areas in Taiwan.

At the year-end karaoke luncheon chez Linda's, I discovered the singing talents of George and Linda. In Toastmasters, many outstanding speakers are also superb singers, I guess they know how to inject emotions in their presentations, speaking or singing! I'm interested in pooling singing toastmasters talents together to build a singing club for Toastmasters of good voices in Taiwan. We can organize an annual charity concert to entertain Toastmasters and friends and to exchange ideas in singing with joy!

On Christmas Day 2012

When Jimmy called at 11 o'clock, I just finished watching the movie of "The Water-Babies, A Fairy Tale for a Land Baby" of 1978, based on the novel written by the Reverend Charles Kingsley. With a merry Christmas spirit, I accepted my dear brother's invitation for lunch on Christmas Day. I brought along a new Sony cybershot digital camera DSC-WX1, the Christmas gift 2012, from my husband.

On a working Christmas day, only a few tourists showed up at Bitan. It was blissful to enjoy the tranquility to walk along the Hsin-tien river in the sun. When Jimmy and I were about to order lunch, I saw a newly acquainted Chinese Music teacher walk in my way. I met Ms. Te-Yu Shih at a seminar on vocalization with er-hu (two strings Chinese instrument) at Taiwan Music Center Saturday morning, December 22nd. Ms. Shih has a beautiful voice and knows many folk songs of various regions in China. What a surprise to meet a acquaintance on Christmas day!

For lunch, I ordered Smoke Turkey & Bacon Pizza, Taiwanese Sausage, Blue Girl Beer, and Coca Cola for Jimmy and myself. Being the residents of Hsin-tien, we enjoyed a 10% discount for food and drinks at the eateries at the Bitan Food Arcade.

To my surprise, I saw a log-time no see Toastmaster friend George Chang walk by and I asked him to join us for coffee. George is a veteran Toastmaster with funny bones. He didn't waste time making my brother and me laugh when he was around. He talked about his versatile and colorful life journey in 50 plus countries and his mission in promoting the Taiwanese language.

After lunch, George, Jimmy, and I had a walk on Bitan bridge before we said goodbye. Jimmy was happy to ask George to come to his place for dinner one of these days! What a serendipity to run into Toastmaster George Chang, the Mr. Santa Claus, for a surprise encounter full of laughter on Christmas Day!

A Christmas Carol

Peter and Ruth of Red Room have been working on developing scripts for Radio Drama since their first production of "Open Your Ears" at the Taipei Fringe 2012. Their first radio broadcast "A Christmas Carol" will be on air on ICRT FM100 radio in Taipei, Taichung & Kaoshiung and much of the island of Taiwan. It will also stream at the same times.

Upon Ruth's invitation, I joined the group voice rehearsal of "A Christmas Carol" once in November. It was fun to read the famous novel of Charles Dickens, first published on 19 December 1843, about sour and stingy Ebenezer Scrooge's transformation from supernatural visits of Jacob Marley and the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Yet to Come. After voice rehearsal, Ruth invited me to sing caroling to lift up the atmosphere at the monthly Red Room gathering Saturday evening, December 15th. Due to the time conflict with the welcome dinner party for Japanese Toastmasters on the same evening, I had to take a rain check. I'm delighted to listen to their recording on ICRT on Christmas Day to increase their ratings.

Red Room Radio Redux and Taiwan's English speaking radio station, ICRT, present a radio theater adaptation of Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol"  Three repeat broadcasts of this classic Christmas story starring voice actors from Taiwan, December 24 at 5:00 PM (Taiwan time) and December 25 at 8:00AM and 5:00PM (Taiwan time). 

A Christmas Working Saturday

While most people were busy working on this working Saturday, I enjoyed the special day all to myself to celebrate an extravagant quiet Christmas weekend.

After a fun and crazy red Xmas party with Toastmasters last night, I woke up just in time to an er-hu seminar at 10 o'clock at Taiwan Music Center this morning. At noon, I followed the organizer of er-hu exhibition for a tour of 30 minutes with a crowd of 20 participants before I went fetch my blue scarf which I left at the party venue.

On my way home, I decided to give me a treat to enjoy a Christmas lunch at Cowboys Steakhouse. While listening to Christmas carols played in the air, I had a full course, starting with a bowl of corn soup, a plate of fresh salad, followed by a sizzling plate of chicken and Italian fusilli, ended with a cup of espresso and many balls of Häagen-Dazs ice cream. Oh, my stomach was full!

While having the desserts, I  read "The Age of Turbulence:Adventures in a New World" by Alan Greenspan. It felt good to reminiscence good old holiday seasons in New Orleans three decades ago. In those days, I loved to drive around the residential area to see the shining Xmas trees in the living rooms and the exterior decorations at night!

Dashing through the snow in a one horse open sleigh
O'er the fields we go laughing all the way
Bells on bob tails ring making spirits bright
What fun it is to laugh and sing a sleighing song tonight

Jingle Bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way
Oh, what fun it is to ride in a one horse open sleigh
Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way
Oh, what fun it is to ride in a one horse open sleigh

A day or two ago I thought I'd take a ride
And soon Miss Fanny Bright was seated by my side
The horse was lean and lank misfortune seemed his lot
We got into a drifted bank and then we got upsot

Now the ground is white, go it while you're young,
Take the girls tonight and sing this sleighing song;
Just get a bobtailed bay two forty as his speed
Hitch him to an open sleigh and crack! you'll take the lead.

After lunch, I spent a quiet afternoon at Taipei City Library for a couple of hours in Jingmei. I borrowed half a dozen new arrival books for me to read during the holiday weekend. In the evening, I had a bowl of red bean and peanut tangyuan which I missed on winter solstice yesterday evening. In Chinese thinking, after eating the auspicious tangyuan, I should be officially one year older.

Wow, in less than two weeks, it'll be 2013. I need to burn the midnight oil to finish the new year resolutions of 2012. Firstly, let me plan where to have a luxurious brunch tomorrow!

Hot Red X'mas Party on Mayan Doomsday

Among the visible spectrum, I like the colors of smaller wavelengths. During the X'mas seasons, my favorite one is none other than red. When Toastmaster Linda Tseng invited me to Excellence Toastmasters Club (TMC)'s X'mas Party, with the dress code of red, I was excited to put on a sexy Mrs. Santa Claus costume to add to the joyful X'mas atmosphere at Changee Friday evening, December 21st.

The moment I walked to the party venue, I saw a sea of people in red. I saw golden ladies Toastmasters. I saw two members from Grand TMC. I was particularly impressed by Linda's Fendi Motif skirt, not to mention her efforts to organize the party, prepare the food and drinks, rent the masquerade X'mas costumes single-handed! After a good dinner feast from 6:30PM till 7:30PM, the master of ceremonies announced the start of party time, including ice breaking time, bingo of Yoga, past presidents greetings time, and masquerade dance competition.

I was lucky to be called up to join the icebreaking time because of my extra short mini skirt. Before I introduced myself and my home club, I was requested to immerse my hands in a bowl of water full of ice cubes to pick up a box of chocolate to say greetings with the word on the box. What a cool way to celebrate Xmas!

Then every guest was given a piece of paper with a 3 by 3 grid. We first filled in with nine activities announced by the master of ceremonies, such as traveling, shopping, sleeping, mountain climbing. Then we were asked to make acquaintance with toastmasters and friends and filled in their names to match their favorite activities. I was lucky to win the bingo game and to mimic a yoga pose proposed by President Teresa Liu. Many thanks to Toastmaster Pamela Yang who took my place to illustrate a difficult yoga style voluntarily.

The past presidents greeting time was most touching. At least 10 past presidents of Excellence TMC showed up. They welcomed the members and guests singing X'mas caroling on stage. The most exciting moment was the masquerade dance competition. At admission, each participant wrote his or her name on the piece of color paper badge. I belonged to the pink group. Toastmaster Trini Ding volunteered to be the group leader to help dress up Toastmaster Scott Weaver as a hula dancer. We won the best dancer group.

In Toastmasters, people help people grow. In Toastmasters, I see many people grow. In 2003, I encouraged Toastmaster Michelle Liu to shoulder the responsibility of the President of Legacy TMC. In 2005, I met Toastmaster Linda Tseng, the incumbent President of Excellence TMC, who came to Grand TMC's 30th anniversary party. In 2012, Toastmaster Pamela Yang became the President of Galaxy TMC in July. She has been busy visiting toastmasters clubs in Taipei. It feels good to see Toastmasters friends grow old and wise with club members and friends.

Many congrats go to Toastmaster Linda Tseng and her club members for organizing a successful hot red X'mas party in 2012 on Mayan Apocalyptical Doomsday! I've always wanted to visit Excellence TMC after they moved to a more convenient new meeting venue in 2012. I shall definitely visit their club in 2013. It's going to be one of my new year resolutions of 2013.

3D Life of Pi

In Republic of China, a person is entitled to write a will at age of 16 (Civil Law Article 1186). That's the age of Pi when he encountered a shipwreck on his way to Canada from India with his family.

Life of Pi is a fantasy novel by Yann Martel published in 2001. The protagonist, Piscine Molitor "Pi" Patel, an Indian boy from Pondicherry, survives 227 days after a shipwreck while stranded on a boat in the Pacific Ocean with a Bengal tiger named Richard Parker. In 2012 Ang Lee adapted the novel, directed and produced the film with a screenplay by David Magee. Ang Lee's Life of Pi, nominated for 9 Golden Globe Awards, including Best Motion Picture and Best Director.

I saw the 3D Life of Pi by Ang Lee by myself at 2:30PM at Vieshow Cinemas this afternoon. The movie theater was about two thirds full. Many thanks went to President May Hwang for giving me her corporate ticket coupon after Grand Finale 2012 yesterday evening.

The film stared with a 3D beautiful jungle. The film ended with a Bengal tiger walking into a jungle without looking back! In the middle of the film, Pi asked his girl dancer friend, "why there is a lotus flower in the jungle?"

Before I saw the movie, I watched Ang Lee's two interviews in Taiwan and in China for two hours in the morning. I knew what was on Ang Lee's mind to direct the film and what he expected the audience to experience the spiritual adventure in life of π (a mathematical constant that is the ratio of a circle's circumference to its diameter).

Good or bad, it was the first time I saw a movie with a comprehensive background information and with an objective perspective. When Pi was drifting at sea, I felt no danger because I knew it was a gigantic swimming pool built for the movie at the old military airport in Taichung. I paid more attention to the facial expression and body movement of Pi. I was also tempted to see the aging of Pi from 16 to 20 (it took Ang Lee four years to finish the film), from a boy to a man, according to Ang Lee.

There were many bizarre things in the movie, such as the floating island. The fresh water in the day on the island turned into acidic at night to digest the animals caught. There was a human tooth entrapped in a flower. Being a biologist, I found it hard to believe.

But I did enjoy the 3D movie with a pair of awesome spectacles very much. In stead of seeing the 3D subtitles, I replied more upon my ears to understand the conversation and narration in English, than on my eyes to read the subtitles in Chinese.

After seeing the predominant male characters in the film, I can't help but wondering what if Pi was a girl. Was she able to go through the ordeal face to face with a Bengal tiger drifting on a boat in the Pacific Ocean for 227 days?

Now I have many plans for 2013, including a spiritual tour in India, a reading of original "Life of Pi" by Yann Martel, a visit of Taipei Zoo to see a beautiful Bengal tiger, a trial writing of an adventure story in a remote desolate star in the universe!

PS: The Value of Pi
Did you know that the ratio of the circumference and the diameter of a circle known as Pi (a value of 3.141592657932…) was first calculated by Hindus?
The Sanskrit text, by the famous Hindu mathematician, Baudhayana in his Baudhayana Sulbha Sutra of the 6th century BC mentions this ratio as approximately equal to 3. The Hindu mathematician, Aryabhatta, in 499 AD worked out the value of Pi to the fourth decimal place as [3x (177/1250) = 3.1416]. In 825 AD one Arab mathematician Mohammad Ibna Musa said: This value has been given by the Hindus [Indians] (62832/20,000 = 3.1416).

Grand Finale 2012

On my way to Grand Finale this evening, I overheard an intimate conversation between a father and his little daughter. At the traffic light, a motorcyclist father hummed "We wish you a Merry Xmas & Happy New Year" to a kindergarten girl who sat in front of him.

"Look at the traffic lights, red & green," the father said, "aren't they like the shining stars on a big Xmas tree?"

I felt so blissful waiting at the traffic light that I could overhear such a warm conversation. I looked up in the air, the traffic light shining in the sky. How touching it was for adults to say sweet words to their beloved little ones during Xmas holidays!

Eighteen people participated in Grand Finale 2012, including four guests. In order to add Xmas atmosphere, I spent two hours designing a Mrs. Santa Claus outfit for the evening. When I walked into the meeting venue, I saw a small Xmas tree on the table and many Halloween tinsels on the ceiling. What an auspicious mix and match of 聖誕 & 萬聖.

The last meeting of year 2012 started on time at 7PM sharp. Toastmaster of the Evening Yoland Wu was happy to announce that she also served the TME of Grand Finale 2011. Yes, we shall definitely reserve the privilege for her to be the TME of Grand Finale 2013.

Toastmaster Jimmy Wu was the joke master. He started the joke session by an English punctuation lesson to compare the following two sentences of the same words, but entirely different meanings. "A woman, without her man, is nothing." "A woman, without her, man is nothing." While explained the power of punctuation, Jimmy looked at me! Why me? A loving Mrs. Santa Claus!

EVP Sharen Chan prepared four tabletopics questions, including the most difficult decision, the best and worst Xmas presents, most memorable Xmas & count-down party, and Baby Boss game for children. I was the first to be called upon to answer the most difficult decision. So I made it up, I talked about my trans-gender operation from a woman to a man. My marital relationship changed from "sister and brother" to brotherhood. I won the best tabletopics speaker.

Merry Xmas & Happy New Year!

During the intermission, there was Xmas caroling in the air. Everybody was cheerful to exchange Xmas greetings and best wishes of the coming year. After the club meeting, 6 Toastmasters stayed for a second party at McDonald. When I invited President May Hwang to see 3D "Life of Pi" by Ang Lee with me, May gave me a corporate ticket coupon generously and asked me to see it by myself. Our club president is too busy working at the end of year to see a movie! Hooray, I'm going to see it at Vieshow Cinemas tomorrow afternoon! Many thanks to President May Hwang for a special Xmas Present in 2012.

YMCA Oratorio Choir’s 66th Messiah Concert

Upon Toastmaster Lydia Lin's invitation, I went to YMCA Oratorio Choir's 66th Messiah Concert at Grace Baptist Church Monday evening, December 17th.

I arrived early and I seized the chance to sit at the front row. It was my 5th consecutive year to listen to YMCA Oratorio Choir's annual Messiah Concert in December. I'm familiar with most singers faces and voices, not to mention Conductor Dr. Aikuang Sun's body movement and hand gestures. I like Conductor Sun's hairstyle 2012 in particular!

Sitting at the close distance to the Sun Taipei Philharmonic Orchestra and YMCA Oratorio Choir, I was moved in tears at the moment the Messiah began. Maybe my spirit was transcended to the old times of George Frideric Handel in 1742 in England all of a sudden. At the end of part II—the passion and the triumph, everybody stood up to sing Hallelujah! What a joyful and glorious moment it was for all participants!

After the intermission, there was the donation time for children at Liu-guei Orphanage devastated by Typhoon Morakot in 2009, also known as 88 Typhoon disaster. I saw many donors give away cash generously. The concert hall was filled with peace and friendship atmosphere. I thought of the book "Equality and Efficiency" written by Arthur Okun. Regardless of the born inequality of human beings, we can join hands to build a better society by helping the less fortunate! I was delighted that I made it to the concert!

The Christmas Caroling started shortly after the donation. I liked all seven Christmas songs, including 1. The Little Drummer Boy; 2. Jingle Bells Through the Ages (Allen Pote); 3. Rocking around the Christmas Tree (J. Marks); 4. A Noel Proclamation; 5. The Coming Joy; 6. Dance into the light; 7 O Holy Night. It was like many angels singing in the heaven to wish everybody a merry Christmas and a prosperous new year. When Conductor Aikuang Sun invited the audience to sing aloud "O Holy Night" with the orchestra and the choir as the encore song, it was a sensational moment for me to let out my joy and emotion in the climax of the concert! "Let’s jolly" is how I felt about the 66th YMCA Oratorio Choir's Messiah Concert.

After the concert, Lydia invited me to YMCA  Oratorio Choir's joint Handel's Messiah Concert at National Concert Hall in January 2013. How can I miss it? On top of that, I look forward to their 67th Messiah Concert at Chung-san Hall in December in 2013!

Many thanks to Lydia for inviting four guests after the concert to enjoy auspicious tangyuan (boiled balls of glutinous rice) for night snack at the Tai-yi Tangyuan King in the neighborhood. We chitchatted till after 11PM, about digital cameras, life insurance, saving & investment, real estate, false eye lashes! I'm thinking about buying Samsung's F2.5 wide angle camera to take photos in the dark while traveling. I'm also tempted to try on false eye lashes made of real human hair!

Marathon Runners Toastmasters

I don't know how many Marathon Runners there are in Toastmasters. It's to my humble estimation that there were at least 20 Toastmasters who joined the Fubon Taipei Marathon 2012 Sunday morning, December 16th. According to the organizers, the 2012 Fubon Taipei Marathon drew more than 120,000 people, including Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin and Fubon Financial Chairman Daniel Tsai who ran the 9-km race. Maybe I can take it a consideration to run my first 9-km race in 2013.

Sunday morning, I was surprised to receive a photo of Marathon runners eating bananas from Toastmaster Kiichiro Saito. He wanted to prove the joy of the runners replenish their energy with delicious Taiwan bananas. When Toastmaster Saito was called upon to answer one tabletopics question at Pacific Toastmasters Club meeting Saturday afternoon, December 15th, he explained to everybody's surprise that it was the banana that prompted him to come back to Taipei Fubon Marathon year after year! 

At the celebration party for Japanese Toastmasters Marathon Runners and friends Sunday evening, Toastmaster Sugiyama was proud to show us the report from the organizers that he won the first place of senior marathon group. He completed the full course marathon in 3 hours and 15 minutes. I doubt if I could finish 9-km race withing three hours and fifteen minutes.

It seems more and more runners signed up for Fubon Taipei Marthon each year, including five toastmasters from District 76 in 2012, how about D67 organizes a joint meeting for them in the future? I propose a joint wild card meeting for Marathon Runners Toastmasters to mingle the toastmasters of D67 and D76 Friday evening, two nights before the Marathon Day.

On the Marathon Day, D67 can organize a cheerleaders group to take photos and to acknowledge their spirit and strength. I'm thinking about convincing golden ladies Toastmasters to join me to participate in the 9-km race in 2013 to feel the excitements with the crowd.

Pacific Finale 2012

For the past consecutive years, a troupe of toastmasters from D76 participated in Peace Toastmasters Club (TMC)' year-end meeting. Eight Japanese toastmasters joined Pacific TMC's year-end meeting Saturday afternoon, December 15th, this year. They are 酒井こずゑSakai Kozue (輝Club), 渡辺吉人 Watanabe Yoshihito (赤羽Club), 宮本文江Miyamoto Fumie (神楽阪Club), 小堀則之 Kobori Noriyuki (築波Club), 齊藤喜一郎Saito Kiichro (赤羽Club) ,豊満和德Toyomichi (輝Club), 杉山長Sugiyama (? Club),  水島かずのりMizuyama Kazunori (?Club).

Why Pacific TMC, instead of Peace TMC? I'm regretful to admit that Peace TMC closed down in 2012. Being the club mentor to Peace TMC when it was chartered in 1998, I couldn't be exempted from some responsibilities. From 3 Japanese-speaking TMCs in Taipei in 1998 to only 1 Japanese-speaking TMC left in 2012, it's time we took initiatives to bring back the old members and recruit new members to Japanese-speaking Toastmasters clubs in District 67.

The welcome dinner party held at A Dragon Restaurant at Xi-men District Friday evening, December 14th, was my favorite agenda. Seven Toastmasters from Japan and three toastmasters from Taiwan joined the round-table Peking Duck Dinner party for ten this year As usual, Japanese Toastmasters were generous to bring a lot of new year gifts to me. After the annual sumptuous dinner, I didn't stay for coffee gathering, because I needed to get up early for the life insurance agent exam the following morning.

Pacific Finale 2012 was a big success Saturday afternoon, December 15th. I saw Japanese Toastmasters mingling with Pacific club members when I arrived the meeting venue at 1PM. It has been a year since I last attended the club meeting. And It felt good to chat with long-time-no-see club members and knew many new members.

Toastmaster of the Day Tu(凃世俊) conducted the joint meeting at 1:30PM punctually. After he introduced the Toastmasters International and explained the meeting program, the variety session began. Upon the request of the session master Toastmaster James Huang(黃俊嘉), we were divided into two groups, to decipher the riddles with hand painting on the white board without words and body languages. It was interesting for me to see how Japanese and Taiwanese drew things with different mindsets.

The prepared speech session featuring four outstanding prepared speakers was the main course of the day. Toastmaster Huang(黃傳尹)encouraged us to learn ten merits of Japanese people during the 311 earthquake. When Toastmaster Ke(柯銀蘭)delivered her icebreaker speech, I was impressed with her impeccale self-introudction. She must have studied very hard with her veteran Toastmaster husband Kao(高錦泉). Toastmaster Lo (羅秀娟) talked about the manners at the hot spring. And Toastmaster Sugiyama(杉山長)talked about his addiction of marathon.

During the intermission, a birthday celebration party was held for two birthday stars, Toastmaster Sun (孫秀) and ToastmasterSakai(酒井こずゑ). While every member was busy eating the delicious birthday cake, I helped distribute five boxes of chocolate cookies and potato flies from Japanese Toastmasters..

The tabletopics session was conducted by Toastmaster Li (李育叡), he also signed up as a full-marathon runner in 2012. He prepared questions about Fubon Marathon and Taiwan Secenary. I was happy that I was not called upon to answer any tabletopics, because my Japanese language proficiency was dropping. I'm committed to attend Pacific club meeting more regularly in 2013. Toastmaster Miyamoto(宮本文江) was the general evaluator. She prepared her assignment well and I was happy that she asked me to be her written evaluator for her CL manual.

After the Pacific Final, five Toastmasters joined the Appetif Hours at the old Taipei City Hall in Japanese times before the year-end dinner Party. More than 2 dozen toastmasters joined the boisterous farewell Karaoke dinner party, also the year end party, in honor of Toastmasters from Japan at a seafood restaurant. It was a joyful and memorable moment for Toastmasters of Japan and Taiwan to sing, dance, eat, drink together till we meet again at Pacific Finale in 2013.

今回の合同例会は、大成功だと思います。会長陳清南が曰本の友人と太平洋クラブの方に感謝の意を表するとともにありがとう御座いました、同時にお話が以下で御座います。　

壹：『陳淸南会長さんのお話』

太平洋トストマスダ－ズクラブの皆樣

12月15日（土曜日）台湾と曰本のクラブの合同例会で,大成功できました、参加方が多くて、これは皆さんのお蔭であると思います 。会場で日本からの乄ンバと太平洋トストマトクラブの乄ンバ合同会議でスムスにして,敎室の中滿員です,熱い氛意気がよく,プログラム進行中,笑ぃ声が空気中あふれていました,プログラムがよくすすめられます。会議の三人の重要な乄ンバ集計係の報告,タイマーの報告口癖係三人の責任を紹介します。この会議は私が会三人が柯銀蘭の『アイスブレーカー』；羅秀娟の『温泉浴のマナー』；黄傳尹さんの『曰本に学ぶ10の事！台灣人頑張れ！』；日本国の杉山長さんのスピチC5『持病とともに』でした。

柯銀蘭さんの論評は渡辺吉人さん;羅秀娟さんのは小堀則之さん;黄傅尹さんのは齊藤樹―朗さん；杉山長さんのは呂芳茂さん;本当によかったです；皆樣とも心得が得られました。そのほか黄俊嘉さんお面白コーナ、教室の乄ンバ二チムは分けて、ひとチムずつ、ひとり代表して、画が黑板に書いて、ほかのひと実際の中文の意味を当ってて、あたったのチムは1点にとった,順番にして、最後に点数を計算して、點数多ぃのはのチムは優勝で、とてもおもしろいでした 。

李育叡は即席演説はとても多種多樣,おもしろいです。言語論評は孫秀先生担当し,会員のスピ-チの説法,文法などがなおします。總講評宮本文江さん,はきリ会員の全対の表現を論表します。例会は午後四時三十分終了します,皆様来年さよならと言ぃました。

太平洋日語會会長陳清南 2013年1月1日

貳：『陳淸南会長御挨拶』

曰本トーストマスダーズの皆樣

こんにちは！昨年12月15日（土曜日）に、日本からトーストマスダーズクラブの乄ンバが八人訪れてきました。その八人の旧友は、宮本文江さんをはじめ、齊藤樹―郎さん、渡辺吉人さん、杉山長さん、酒井こずゑさん、小堀則之さん、水島かずのりさん、それに豐滿和德さんです。

子曰く、「友有り、遠方より来たり、また楽しからずや。」心から歓迎いたします。
今度は「2012富邦台北マラソン」に参加してきました。そして、合同例会でお互いに楽しく交流しました。これは我が会に対して、光榮なことだと思います。

例会で、色々と役割りを担ってくださいました。渡辺さんは柯銀蘭さんの論評、小堀さんは羅秀娟さんの論評、齊藤は黄傅尹さんの論評、杉山さんのスピーチの論評は呂芳茂さんに任せました。宮本さんは総合論評の重役を働いて、ありがとうございました。

この合同例会を借りて、我が会のメンバーもより一層進歩してくれるように思います。これはありがたいことです。特に印象深いのは、杉山さんのC5スピーチ「持病とともに」というテーマで、いろいろと乗り越えて、ようやくマラソンのチャンピオンを取った話に感心しました。

夜の晩餐会で、リラックスで楽しい交流が進んでいました。「来年再会したい」という声で、暖かくお開きしました。去年は色々とありがとうございました。我が会も奮起するつもりで、今年もよろしくお願い致します。

太平洋日語會会長陳清南 2013年1月1日


叁：『齊藤樹―郎の話し』（曰本TMCのリ-ダ-）


太平洋演説会の皆様

お世話になっております。赤羽TMCの齊藤です。このたびの皆様の心のこもった歓迎に心より感謝します。ネームプレートを用意していただいたり、様々な準備をしてくださり、ありがとうございました。私たちメンバーも演説会、晩餐会を本当に楽しみました。皆様と再会できて嬉しかったです。

太平洋演説会の皆様が母国語ではない日本語で流暢に演説されるのを見て、私はいつも尊敬しています。訪問のたびにとても刺激を受けています。私はなかなか中国語を覚えられませんが、皆様を見習ってもっと進歩できるよう頑張りたいです。

晩餐会でもいつも楽しい話や貴重なお話を聞く事が出来て良い経験になります。
皆様とこれからも様々な交流を深められたらと思います。メールの添付ファイルとして、マラソンでバナナを食べることの証拠写真を添付しました。

もし機会がありましたら孫先生にもお知らせいただけましたら幸いです。なお、今回例会にも参加した元太平洋演説会会員の杉山さんは、日曜日の台北マラソンで60才代の部で、なんと１位になりました。トーストマスターズの先輩はすごい人ばかりです！

皆様と次回お会いできるのを楽しみにしています。日本にお越しの際はぜひご連絡ください。

齊藤樹―郎 2012年12月28日

Your Life Insurance Policy

"What's next after you took the qualifying exam," my husband asked me after I told him that I would certainly pass the Life Insurance Agent Exam at Taiwan Insurance Association with high marks this morning.

"I don't know what the future has in store," I answered, "but my eyes are open to a new exciting investment territory. The financial world is changing swiftly after the passage of the Gramm–Leach–Bliley Act, also known as the Financial Services Modernization Act of 1999. I'm eager to catch up and to stay updated with the trends and products in the financial market."

Who would have known that I would be interested in becoming an insurance agent? After studying the life insurance law and affairs for the past three weeks at Cathay Life Insurance Company, I now wish I could continue my studies of life insurance rules and cases between insurance policy holders and insurers and to learn more about the investment insurance.

My life insurance story began at Grand Toastmasters Club's meeting on Thanksgiving's Eve, November 21st. When Tabletopics Master Jimmy Wu of Taiwan Stock Exchange Corporation (TWSE) asked what measures I would take to remedy the deficit of National Health Insurance if I were the head of Department of Health. I must have given some impressive solutions, and I won the best table topics speaker.

When Toastmaster Yolanda Wu of Taiwan Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) corrected my usage of English as the grammarian, she recommended I use insurance premiums, in stead of insurance fees. How should I ever know at that time that I would have taken the Life Insurance Agent Exam Saturday morning, December 15th. I didn't know before that there were many financial experts at Grand Toastmasters Club.

I'm happy that I've acquired quite a few insurance terms, insurer, applicant, insured, beneficiary, insurance policy, and not to mention insurance premium. And I shall keep on studying as many life insurance policies as possible. Most of all, I look forward to working with you on your life insurance policy to plan a better life for your in the future.

Becoming a Late Bloomer

For the past two weeks, I've been studying diligently the personal insurance laws in order to pass the coming examination at Taiwan Insurance Association Saturday, December 15th. Be it challenging, it feels good that I'm learning the know-how to evaluate the financial products, in order to maximize the profit of my investment.

 To be honest,  I'm ignorant about financial products, stocks, currencies, and bonds. I know nothing about the financial market, not to mention the personal insurance market. Upon the invitation of my insurance agent friend, I decided to take her advice to enroll in the training courses on Personal Insurance.

After four days intensive training on Personal Insurance Affairs and Laws, I passed the mock exam successfully Friday morning, December 1st. There are still tons of jargons I don't know, for example the basis point of interest rate, or a specific term of 0.25% interest rate. Comparing with most of my classmates, I was far behind in terms of monetary terms.

Better late than never, I'm lucky to be given the chance to learn new tricks at my golden age with young people. It's a good opportunity to get prepared for the challenges in the Taiwanese Stock Market. Yes, Taiwan Stock Market, here I come to learn by doing!